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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes

I've had this post planned for a while, but of course no one could have expected that yesterday's horrible events in Boston would occur. Before I go into the food post, I want to say that my heart goes out to the people in Boston. I'm so grateful that no one I knew who was running or watching the race was affected and that there are such amazing first responders and medical staff in the city to take care of the victims. I hope we can all focus on the positive and show that love can prevail in the face of terror.

It's been about two months since I've gone gluten free, and so far it's been going pretty well. What I at first thought would be a very difficult diet change has actually turned out to be very manageable (with the exception of beer!). There are so many alternatives to gluten-full foods, and I don't just mean the processed frozen foods you can buy at the grocery store. Sure, I've tackled baking with gluten-free baking mix, coconut flour, rice flour, and xantham gum, but I've realized that there are also plenty of recipes that don't use flour at all.

Like these pancakes I made last weekend. It's no secret that I love to make pancakes. I've basically been making them since I was tall enough to see over the stove, so the thought of never again enjoying them on a relaxing weekend morning was kind of devastating. Thankfully, my sister went gluten free years ago and has been my guide through this process. She shared a gluten free pancake recipe with me that doesn't use any sort of flour, gluten or otherwise. In fact, they only have three ingredients. Three!!

That's right - all you need for these pancakes are peanut butter, bananas, and eggs. It's mind blowing how simple they are and that this will actually turn into a pancake, but trust me here - you won't be disappointed. They're light and fluffy and perfect with a little butter and syrup. Or nutella :) To make 1-2 servings, you'll need two of each - two bananas, two eggs, and two spoonfuls of peanut butter. To start, mash the bananas in a small mixing bowl.

Beat the eggs and add those them to the banana along with the peanut butter.

Whisk or mash the ingredients together until it forms a smooth batter. How much you have to whisk may vary depending on what kind of peanut butter you used. I used freshly ground peanut butter that had been in the fridge, so it was pretty firm and needed a lot of mashing. If you use something super smooth, like Skippy, it will come together more easily. You could really use any kind of nut butter, such as almond butter, if you prefer. Once it's mixed, it will look something like this:

It will look kind of watery, but stay with me!Melt some coconut oil or butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. You'll know that the pan is hot enough when cold water sprinkled on the pan "dances." I check this by wetting the tips of my fingers with cold water and spraying it onto the pan. If the water hops off the pan, then it's hot enough. If not, increase the heat a bit. Pour about two tablespoons of batter onto the pan for each pancake. I find it helpful to keep them on the small side, since they are fairly delicate.

This would be the perfect time to add chocolate chips if you're using them! Really, I don't know what I was thinking NOT using them. Cook them for a few minutes on this side and then flip them. You'll know they're ready to be flipped when the edges start to firm up and you start to see bubbles popping in the center of the pancake.

Cook them for a few minutes on this side and then remove them from the pan. I like to keep them on an oven safe plate in a warm oven while I continue to make the rest of the pancakes. This amount of batter makes about 8-9 pancakes. Serve them piping hot with butter and syrup, or your favorite topping. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Banana PancakesAdapted from The Mogul MomServes 1-22 bananas, mashed2 tablespoons peanut or almond butter2 eggs, beatenIn a small mixing bowl, mix the bananas, nut butter, and eggs. Melt 1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour 2 tablespoons batter into the frying pan to form 1 pancake; continue to fill pan. Cook for several minutes or until the edges begin to firm up and bubbles pop in the center of the pancake. Flip and cook for several minutes on the other side. Remove from the pan. Serve hot, with butter and syrup.